7 Things To Do Before Listing Your Home This Spring

As the weather becomes warmer, and the flowers start to bloom again, another cycle of the real estate market begins.  If you're considering listing your home this year, it's definitely not too late to get started.  March and April can be great months for putting your home in front of prospective buyers, but the summer months are also great times to sell.

Regardless of your timing, there are a few things you need to do right now to start getting ready to list your home.  It's not as simple as sticking a sign in the yard and waiting for the calls to roll in.

Putting Your Best Foot Forward

You never know who will feel that special feeling people get when they find the home that is right for them.  You can turn the odds in your favor if you and your home are both show ready long before you open up to potential buyers.  Before you sell your home, you're going to want to run through this checklist.

• Hire a Realtor - There's a reason that approximately 90 percent of home sellers use a real estate agent to sell their home; selling a home is a complicated process that really demands an expert.  You wouldn't try to do your own surgery or defend yourself in a legal action, so why try to sell your home yourself when there could be serious financial risks involved without having an education in real estate law.  In addition to being your safety net, a Realtor can point out items that you might not realize are big turn-offs to buyers, like dated lighting and flooring, so you can get started on the cosmetic stuff to make your home show its best and get top dollar.
• Have a Home Inspection  Wait.  Isn't a home inspection just for buying a house?  Absolutely not!  You can have a home inspection done any time you want.  Having a full blown home inspection before you put your house on the market gives you a chance to correct items that will likely come up for your future buyer when they have their home inpsector out.  Get ahead of any issues and you'll sell the home faster!
• Get to Decluttering  If you have to sell your home in order to buy a new home, you're going to be living in a showroom for the next few months.  Pack away anything you don't immediately need and put it in a storage unit.  Get it away from your house because pushing clutter around doesn't really help anything.  Declutter as much as you can bear to - it will make your home look bigger and more appealing to prospective buyers.
• Paint the Front Door  Your Realtor will probavbly dive home the importance of curb appeal, or how enticing your house is from the street.  The better the curb appeal, the more likely potential buyers will come inside and look around.  The interesting thing about curb appeal is how certain elements of your home affect the whole picture.  Case in point, Zillow's 2018 Paint Color Analysis found that a black or charcoal colored front door can in as much as $6,271 extra!
• Spruce Up the Landscaping  Along with dressing the front of your home up a bit, make sure that your landscaping is up to par.  Prune any unruly plants, remove any dead leaves and plants, replace perennials that may have patchy growth, refresh your mulch, and mow the lawn.  Now that your landscape is radiating amazing curb appeal, keep it that way until your home closes.  If you need to hire a landscaper, consider it an investment.
• Get Copies of Your Utility Bills  Potential buyers will ask what kind of utility costs are associated with your home.  Does it just burn through the natural gas?  Does the electricity use seem excessive?  This is another place where you can get ahead of potential buyers by putting this information together and giving it to your Realor when you sign your listing agreemenr.
• Deep Clean Like You've Never Cleaned Before  And hey, maybe you haven't, we're not here to judge.  Even though painting is a quick fix to renewing your home's interior, deep cleaning is less expensive and can result in a better overall effect.  For example, if you clean your windows, inside and out until they're super clean, you'll immediately notice how much more natural light penetrates the room.

Is There Time For All of That?

If you find yourself crunched for time, don't make up for it by skipping important things before listing your home.  Reach out to your Realtor for a list of service providers, i.e. cleaners, landscapers, home inspectors and other vendors you may need to help you get your home list ready.  Let these experts free up some of your time as you get ready to sell.

For more information on selling your home, contact us at (813) 359-0880.

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